WASHINGTON - March 22, 2001, Stamp News Release Number 01-031. Sweden Post and the U.S. Postal Service today jointly issued Nobel Prize commemorative stamps in both the United States and Sweden. The American stamp will be available tomorrow in post offices nationwide.

"We take great pride in honoring perhaps the most coveted award in the world," said S. David Fineman, vice chairman of the Postal Service's Board of Governors. "This is a tremendously important and exciting occasion in Sweden and in the United States." Fineman dedicated the American stamp at the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.

The first day of issuance ceremony here in the United States was held in the Carmichael Auditorium of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (NMAH), Washington, DC, and featured Sweden's Ambassador to the United States Jan Eliasson and Czeslaw Slania, the world-famous, Polish-born, Swedish stamp engraver, who signed autographs following the ceremony.

"We were pleased to join the Postal Service in Washington, DC, and honored to welcome Governor Fineman to Sweden," said Ambassador Eliasson. "We are very proud of the commemorative stamps issued in both our countries. It is wonderful that we have the opportunity to symbolically represent those whose magnificent achievements have made such remarkable differences to our world."

The Nobel Prize - established in the will of Swedish-born inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) - is presented annually on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death. A Nobel Prize winner receives a gold medal, a diploma and a check.

Designed by Olöf Baldursdottir of Stockholm, Sweden, the U.S. stamp depicts a profile portrait of Alfred Nobel and two gold medals. In the center is the gold medal awarded for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature, designed by Swedish sculptor and engraver Erik Lindberg. On the left is the gold medal awarded for peace designed by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland.

Since 1901, the Nobel Foundation has awarded prizes for outstanding achievement. To date, more than 250 Americans have been honored to receive the Nobel Prize.

"Nobel Voices: Celebrating 100 Years of the Nobel Prize," opens April 26 at the NMAH. "The exhibition presents, in their own words, the stories of Nobel Laureates who have devoted their lives to the service of knowledge and mankind," said Dr. Molella. "It also showcases the human side of the creative process and examines the motivation behind these extraordinary individuals," he added. The Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, drawing on the NMAH's substantial Nobel collection, which includes Albert Einstein's pipe and geneticist Barbara McClintock's microscope, sponsors the exhibition. The show closes Oct. 31. For more information on the exhibition, visit www.si.edu/lemelson.

Swedish celebrations include inauguration of "Cultures of Creativity: The Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize," which opens at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm on April 1st and runs through August 31, 2004. For more information about the Nobel Prize and the Foundation's centennial activities, visit www.nobel.se/.

HOW TO ORDER THE FIRST DAY OF ISSUE POSTMARK
Customers have 30 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase the new U.S. stamps at their local post office, affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to: THE NOBEL PRIZE COMMEMORATIVE STAMP, POSTMASTER, 900 BRENTWOOD RD NE, WASHINGTON DC 20066-9991.

After applying the first day of issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. Requests for first day of issue cancellations must be postmarked by April 21, 2001.

Customers can also request a first day of issue Sweden Post postmark by affixing the Swedish stamp or stamps to an envelope, providing a stamped self-addressed envelope for its return, placing these in a larger envelope, and mailing to the address above. This cancelled envelope cannot be used for U.S. or Swedish mail. Customers can purchase the Sweden Post stamp booklet only through STAMP FULFILLMENT SERVICES, INFORMATION FULFILLMENT, DEPT 6270, US POSTAL SERVICE, PO BOX 219014, KANSAS CITY, MO 64121-9014. First day covers remain on sale for at least one year after the stamp's issuance.